G.O.P. Moderate, Pressed by Right, Abandons Race

A moderate Republican whose candidacy for an upstate New York Congressional seat had set off a storm of national conservative opposition abruptly withdrew on Saturday, emboldening the right at a time when the Republican Party is enmeshed in a debate over how to rebuild itself.

The candidate, Dede Scozzafava, said she was suspending her campaign in the face of collapsing support and evidence that she was heading for a loss in a three-way race on Tuesday involving Douglas L. Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line, and Bill Owens, a Democrat.

Ms. Scozzafava had been under siege from conservative leaders because she supported gay rights and abortion rights and was considered too liberal on various fiscal issues.

The Republican National Committee, which had strongly backed Ms. Scozzafava’s candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Mr. Hoffman.

“Effective immediately, the R.N.C. will endorse and support the Conservative candidate in the race, Doug Hoffman,” the party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, said. “Doug’s campaign will receive the financial backing of the R.N.C. and get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat Bill Owens on Tuesday.”

Party leaders — including Mr. Steele and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker — had argued that local parties should be permitted to pick candidates that most closely mirror the sentiments of the district, even if those candidates vary from Republican orthodoxy on some issues.

“This makes life more complicated from the standpoint of this: If we get into a cycle where every time one side loses, they run a third-party candidate, we’ll make Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee Obama’s re-election,” said Mr. Gingrich, who had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava but on Saturday urged voters to support Mr. Hoffman.

“I felt very deeply that when you have all 11 county chairmen voting for someone, that it wasn’t appropriate for me to come in and render my judgment,” Mr. Gingrich said. “I think we are going to get into a very difficult environment around the country if suddenly conservative leaders decide they are going to anoint people without regard to local primaries and local choices.”

Dick Armey, a former congressman from Texas who headed a conservative organization that had gone to the district to work for Mr. Hoffman, said the turn of events — and the surge of conservative grass-roots attention on this small race — underscored what he said was the mistaken argument by Republicans that they needed to field moderate candidates to be competitive.

He said that aggressive government policies pressed by President Obama had ignited conservatives who would not vote for Republicans who they thought would work with the president.

“My own view right now is the myth that you have to be a moderate — a Democrat lite — to win in the Northeast probably has less standing now than in any time since I’ve been in politics,” Mr. Armey said. “The small-government candidate in the Republican Party — or running as an independent — is going to be the one to draw the energy of these voters.”

Photo

Candidates in New York’s 23rd District House race, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug Hoffman, prepared for their first televised debate in Syracuse on Thursday.Credit
Heather Ainsworth/Associated Press

Ms. Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman and former small-town mayor, was nominated to run in District 23 by Republican county leaders who quickly found their choice second-guessed by the party’s conservative wing. Many officials in the district, a vast expanse from the Vermont border through the Adirondacks to Lake Ontario, deeply resented the outside involvement.

“They’re trying to bang 435 elections across the United States into the same mold,” said James Ellis, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Committee. “It’s a detriment to democracy.”

Ms. Scozzafava’s withdrawal leaves a clear two-way race between Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Owens, a Plattsburgh lawyer. As such, the contest could offer a test of the debate by Republican leaders over whether the party needs to adjust ideologically to expand its appeal to places like New York.

Mr. Hoffman, though running as a Conservative, had been endorsed by some Republican luminaries, including Sarah Palin, the party’s 2008 vice-presidential nominee, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a likely candidate for president in 2012. The swell of opposition to Ms. Scozzafava was reflected on conservative radio talk shows and in a heavy diet of television ads supporting Mr. Hoffman that were financed by conservative groups.

Mr. Pawlenty said he was heartened that Ms. Scozzafava had stepped aside. “I’m glad Republicans are uniting behind a candidate who understands the federal government needs to quit spending so much,” he said.

Ms. Scozzafava did not say whom, if anyone, she would endorse. Polls showed that Mr. Owens and Mr. Hoffman were each drawing about 35 percent of the vote, while Ms. Scozzafava had around 20 percent. Several Republicans said that at least in theory, her withdrawal should help Mr. Hoffman as Republican voters join his campaign.

Mr. Hoffman, who appeared before a crowd of about 100 cheering supporters on Saturday afternoon at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Plattsburgh, said he believed victory was within his grasp. “We have to finish this race fighting like the underdog,” he said. “We have to unite the Republicans, unite the independents and the Democrats who have had enough.”

The district has been solidly Republican since the 19th century, and had been represented by John M. McHugh, who stepped down after Mr. Obama named him secretary of the Army.

“In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be,” Ms. Scozzafava said in a statement. “The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money. And as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record.”

Her departure is a clear victory for conservatives at a time when there has been a pitched battle among party leaders over whether Republicans needed to change their ideological appeal as part of an effort to recover from the losses of 2006 and 2008.

Ms. Scozzafava fit the model of candidate advocated by Republican leaders like Mr. Steele and Senator John Cornyn of Texas: one whose views might not be in keeping with much of the national party but are more reflective of the district.

A primary is unfolding in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the Senate, is facing a challenge from a conservative, Marco Rubio, the former Florida House speaker. Mr. Crist has come under fire from conservatives for, among other things, supporting Mr. Obama on his economic stimulus package.

Mr. Cornyn said that he did not see other situations where Republicans could face a similarly divisive primary. He said he expected Mr. Crist to win the nomination but was confident either Mr. Crist or Mr. Rubio would win the seat that had been held by Senator Mel Martinez, who stepped down.

Other potential challenges are based on Republican candidates not being considered pure enough conservatives or viewed as being chosen by the Washington establishment. Those sentiments could stir primary challenges in Senate races in New Hampshire, Colorado, California and Illinois.

Suzanne Moore contributed reporting from Plattsburgh, N.Y.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: G.O.P. Candidate, Pressed by Right, Ends Upstate Bid. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe